Dont get excited with title !! They are just preparing to bomb a part of moon only to find water.

Here is the full Story...

After Chandrayan’s discovery of water on moon, NASA is getting ready to gauge the exact quantity of water on moon.

For this operation, a Centaur spacecraft launched from the orbiting LCROSS craft is scheduled to make a direct vertical impact on the moon on October 9.

This two tonne, used non-explosive rocket will bomb the surface of the moon. This is expected to create a huge plume of dust, which will be analysed for water by different instruments including the Thermoteknix camera, which will follow the Centaur down four minutes later.

The debris plumes are expected to be visible from certain Earth and space-based telescopes. As we report the rocket is progressing towards moon and can be followed at – http://twitter.com/Lcross_Nasa

A live NASA TV Broadcast is planned for the LCROSS impacts starting at 6:15 a.m. EDT/3:15 a.m. PDT, Oct. 9, on NASA TV and www.nasa.gov/ntv.

The 1.5 hour broadcast includes:

• Live footage from spacecraft camera
• Real-time telemetry based animation
• Views of LCROSS Mission and Science Operations
• Broadcast commentary with expert guests
• Prepared video segments
• Views of the public impact viewing event at NASA Ames
• Possible live footage from the University of Hawaii, 88-inch telescope on Mauna Kea.

The live LCROSS Post-Impact News Conference will be 10 a.m. EDT/7 a.m. PDT on NASA TV and www.nasa.gov/ntv.

According to NASA within one hour, scientists will know if the lunar dirt contains any water or ice.

The Centaur impact will release materials from the lunar surface, which will be analysed for the presence of hydrated minerals and will be a major step in seeing if there is water on the moon.

Discovering water on the moon is important for supporting prolonged manned visits to the moon. (With inputs from Yahoo News)

Infact, this is the first time NASA hitting moon.Apollo 14’s Saturn IV-B booster was intentionally impacted into the moon on Feb. 4, 1971, causing vibrations that scientists used to learn about the moon’s interior structure.

A distinctive crater about 35 meters (115 feet) in diameter was formed when the Apollo 14 Saturn IVB (upper stage) was intentionally impacted into the moon. The energy of the impact created small tremors that were measured by the seismometer placed on the Moon by Apollo 12 astronauts in 1969.

Full Story about Apollo 14 here – follow the link

Source: www.nasa.gov

India’s prestigious lauch Chandrayaan-1  comes to an end.This doesn’t mean its a failure.It achieved all its goal for what it is designed.

As per the resources Radio contact with Chandrayaan-1 was abruptly lost early today[ 30th August ]

“The contact was lost at 01.30 IST as the deep space network (DSN) at Byalalu, about 40 km from Bangalore, received the data from the lunarcraft during the previous orbit up to 00.25 IST,” according to an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) statement here.

The space scientists are reviewing the telemetry data to analyse the health of the spacecraft’s sub-systems.

Chandrayaan was launched on Oct 22, 2008 from India’s only spaceport Sriharikota, about 90 km from northeast of Chennai, on board the polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV).

“The spacecraft has completed 312 days in orbit, making over 3,400 orbits around the moon and providing large volume of data from sophisticated sensors like terrain mapping camera, hyper-spectral imager, moon mineralogy mapper and so on, meeting most of the scientific objectives of the mission,” the statement added.(IANS)

People who are not there in Solar eclipse region need not to b bother.You can watch a live video stream of eclipse online from several locations in the world.

NASA’s official page for this solar eclipse includes detailed information about the event, including an interactive map of the eclipse path, various data tables and other info mostly interesting to astronomers.

LIVE! UNIVERSE webcast will display a live webcast from Japan; for the latest info (in Japanese), follow their Twitter page here.

The University of North Dakota has sent an expedition which will broadcast a live webcast from China; it starts on July 22, 2009 at 00:14:54 UTC. You can follow the live stream here. For another webcast from Mainland China, follow this link (site in Chinese).

Grupo Saros will also have a live webcast from China, and on Ustream .TV you can follow the eclipse from Guwahati.

This solar eclipse is the longest total solar eclipse that will occur in the twenty-first century, and will not be surpassed in duration until June 13, 2132. Duration of totality reaches 6 min 39 s.

The eclipse starts at 5:24 pm PDT on July 21st (which is July 22nd on the eastern side of the world). Between 6:37 pm PDT and 6:43 pm PDT, the moon will be completely covered by the sun. At 8:03 pm PDT, the sun will make its last contact with the moon and the eclipse will be over.

Solar Eclipse in India

Image Source : http://www.hindu-blog.com

A Total Solar Eclipse will be visible in India on July 22, 2009 from early morning 05:28 hrs to 07:40 hrs (Indian Standard Time). The total solar eclipse will last nearly four minutes — from 6.26 am to 6.30 am — in India and the sun will not be visible at all.

In India, Total Lunar Eclipse will be visible in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Varanasi, West Bengal and Northeastern States.

BREAKING NEWS: A TSUNAMI warning has been issued for Australia after an earthquake struck earlier this evening.

Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology issued a tsunami marine threat warning for low-lying coastal areas along the coast of New South Wales.

Victoria and parts of Tasmania are also warned of a possible tsunami.

The warning is valid until midnight and warns residents between Gabo Island and Seal Rocks along the coast of New South Wales of strong wind gusts and waves that may peak twice as high as normal.

Victorians are facing a marine warning between Lakes Entrance and Gabo Island.

In Tasmania, residents are warned between the northern tip of Flinders Island to Low Rocky Point.

There’s also a land warning issued for Lord Howe Island, off the east coast of Australia.

There is a threat of major land inudation, flooding and dangerous waves for several hours, the bureau reports.

The powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the southwest coast of New Zealand around 7.20pm.

The US Geological Survey says the undersea quake struck west of Invercargill on South Island.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre says it’s not immediately known if a tsunami has been generated but one could strike coastlines in the region within minutes to hours.

It’s believed the epicentre was 161km off the coast of New Zealand’s South Island at a depth of 33km.

Police in the town of Tuatapere on South Island, where the earthquake was centred, say they have reports of minor cracks in buildings and stock falling from supermarket shelves.

But they have received no reports of serious damage or injuries so far.

The quake was felt widely across the South Island.

More to come. …

Latest Update:

By Heather Langan

July 16 (Bloomberg) — New Zealand was spared a destructive tsunami after a magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck off its South Island, the U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

A tsunami warning issued by the center was in effect for about 2 1/2 hours after the quake hit at 9:22 p.m. New Zealand time yesterday, with the residents of Auckland and Wellington advised of a possible threat, according to e-mailed alerts. No other countries in the Pacific were affected. The quake was followed by a magnitude-5.8 aftershock 19 minutes later.

Sea-level readings indicated a tsunami had been generated by the temblor, the center said, though there was no report of any impact. At Jackson Bay, the sea had risen 0.17 meter (6.7 inches) above normal, the agency said. The coastal area near the epicenter is sparsely populated and includes Fiordland National Park.

“When no major waves are observed for two hours after the estimated time of arrival or damaging waves have not occurred for at least two hours then local authorities can assume the threat is passed,” the center said. “Danger to boats and coastal structures can continue for several hours due to rapid currents.”

The temblor struck 150 kilometers (95 miles) west-northwest of Invercargill on the South Island, at a depth of 35 kilometers, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The earthquake shook buildings as far away as Christchurch, the biggest city on the South Island and 532 kilometers to the northeast of the epicenter.

Power Lines

The quake brought down some power lines in Invercargill, local police inspector Olaf Jensen said by telephone. He said he didn’t have any reports of serious damage and couldn’t confirm an NZ Radio report of cracked buildings in Tuatapere, the closest town to the epicenter. Police don’t expect to get a better sense of damage until daylight, Jensen said.

Meridian Energy Ltd.’s Manapouri Power Station near the epicenter was operating normally after the earthquake, company spokeswoman Claire Shaw said by telephone. Staff members were making checks of the station for damage, she said.

There was no immediate information on Rio Tinto Plc’s Tiwai Point aluminum-smelting plant on New Zealand’s Tiwai peninsula, the company’s London-based spokesman, Nick Cobban, said in a telephone interview

Missing link found? Scientists unveil fossil of 47 million-year-old primate, Darwinius masillae

Feast your eyes on what a group of scientists call the Holy Grail of human evolution. A team of researchers Tuesday unveiled an almost perfectly intact fossil of a 47 million-year-old primate they say represents the long-sought missing link between humans and apes. Officially known as Darwinius masillae, the fossil of the lemur-like creature dubbed Ida shows it had opposable thumbs like humans and fingernails instead of claws.
Anthropologists will be happy to see this news. But what about the students of Anthropology (like me ! ). Now we have one more primate mate to read about !

Scientists say the cat-sized animal’s hind legs offer evidence of evolutionary changes that led to primates standing upright – a breakthrough that could finally confirm Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. “This specimen is like finding the Lost Ark for archeologists,” lead scientist Jorn Hurum said at a ceremony at the American Museum of Natural History where the fossil is kept.  “It is the scientific equivalent of the Holy Grail. This fossil will probably be the one that will be pictured in all textbooks for the next 100 years. Experts believe the pit was a volcanic caldera where scores of animals from the Eocene epoch were killed and their remains were kept remarkably well-preserved. Though the pit has been a bountiful source of other fossils, the inexperienced archeologists didn’t realize the value of their find. Years later, the University of Oslo bought the 95%-intact fossil, and Hurum studied it in secret for two years. His colleague, Jens Franzen, hailed the discovery as “the eighth wonder of the world.” 

“We’re not dealing with our grand, grand, grandmother, but perhaps with our grand, grand, grand aunt,” Franzen said. The unveiling of the fossil came as part of a carefully-orchestrated publicity campaign unusual for scientific discoveries.

A History Channel film on the discovery will air next week.  A book release and a slew of other documentaries will follow

I hope a lot more things will be happening soon.

Courtesy: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2009/05/19/2009-05-19_missing_link_found_fossil_of_47_millionyearold_primate_sheds_light_on_.html